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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

A few weeks back, we had the lastest in a series of posts about theft / damage of bicycles when parked in Sainsbury's car park. As a result I investigated a little then contacted Sainsbury's (locally, via Twitter, then locally again) and now less than a week later we seem to have a solution. 

Hi Hugh

As promised an update on Friday.

CCTV will be put into place covering the cycle park and disabled bays covering all of that part of the car park. We have also looked at extra lighting in this area as well, especially around the canopy areas of the building for extra safety and security.

It is anticipated that this will take 4-6 weeks to complete, I will personally get an update every week to see where we are, and will update you accordingly.

Kind regards

Darren.

Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd | 4 Williamson Road | N4 1UJ

Manager.Harringay@Sainsburys.co.uk | 0208 809 6065

What more can I say. Great response.

Tags for Forum Posts: sainsbury's, sainsbury's bike theft

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Admittedly I am not an articulate, persistent public figure like you Hugh, but these facilities have been known to be crap for four years. A week...

"Articulate" and "public", mmm, dunno. "Persistent", sometimes. "Known about for four years" - exactly my point and the reason I linked to your 2008 pictures in a comment on my previous thread.

My take on this John is that we've worked together and each done our bit. Int that one of the points of communities like HoL?

Great result. Good work!

I shall find out next time that I go to Sainsbury's if they will be recording the CCTV footage etc.

An update today from Darren at Sainsbury's:

Hi Hugh

An update around the bicycle area.

The quote has gone in for 1 extra camera, I am told that it wont be a problem, one of the existing cameras in the car park which is able to rotate has been adjusted so the cycle area is its main focus, we can operate it from inside the store to look at other areas of the car park but at 30 second intervals it will go back to viewing the cycle area, if no one is using it, it will always focus on the cycle area. The lights under the canopy of the building have been checked, they are all working correctly. Obviously this is not an issue during the summer but it does make a big difference in the darker months. I am told the original time span for completion will still be the same.

Kind regards

 

Darren.

Store Manager | Harringay 0406

Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd | 4 Williamson Road | N4 1UJ

Manager.Harringay@Sainsburys.co.uk | 0208 809 6065

30 seconds is a long time in the life of a bicyle thief. Snip - gone.

Yes, but it sounds like a second camera is coming also.

Another bicycle part theft:

Last night I went on foot to Satan'sbusy for a few carefully selected items (amongst the wide array of high prices).

As I walked past the first corner, near the tail end of the trolley park, I turned to look more closely at something I'd noticed on my approach.

A bicycle was locked by the corner and the rear wheel was missing - and the cyclist was by his machine. When he noticed me noticing the missing wheel, he told me that it had just been stolen - in just the 20 minutes he'd been in the store. I expressed disgust and suggested it may have been recorded on a CCTV camera. He went in to have a chat with the security guard.

(the bike was parked where the blue bike is in the last photo in your earlier thread about the company's care of their cyclist customers)

This theft occurred in daylight and must have been in plain view of passers by. Although the removal operation may not have been recorded, there is a beefy looking camera on the ceiling on the corner, by a column on the outside of where the bike was parked .

The exit (and approach) of the thief may well have been recorded.

I've just acquired on old bicycle myself, so I felt empathy toward the theft victim who was going to have to 'wheel' it home to Stroud Green.

I'm not sure the (above) response from Sainsbury really amounts to a "Great" response. The company appears to be focused almost entirely on customers who are motorists. It also seems that there's currently a spate of cycle thefts: it might be worth the while of the police to stake out this area as there might be a chance of catching the culprit.

I've dropped Darren a line to see if the theft was caught on camera.

Good stuff Hugh, and well done for flagging up this problem.

I suspect that, at least in the past, cyclists have been little regarded by the company because they are assumed (probably rightly) to be less able to afford Sainsbury-type prices than those who can afford to run motor cars.

I hope this attitude changes and your publicity might help.

Research by TfL (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/customer-research/town-centr...) suggests that while people arriving on foot or by bike spend less per trip, they tend to visit more often so actually spend more per week than those arriving by car. I also suspect that for some, not running a car means they have more disposable income than car owners. Interestingly, only 9% of people surveyed by TfL in Wood Green arrived by car.

With regards to Sainsburys, their obvious disdain for customers that arrive by bike, by putting bike racks in about as inconvenient a place as possible, meant I decided long ago to take my custom elsewhere. They'll have to do more than a CCTV camera to encourage me back.

The thefts are occurring on private property: land owned by Sainsbury. Are they washing their hands of responsibility for crime outside the building?

I reckon the best thing the company could do now would be to make a concerted effort to help identify the thief/thieves. Until then, IMO, Sainsbury customers should not come by bicycle.

There are bicycle stands near the south entrance of Finsbury Park, alongside Lidls. The safety of bicycles there is unknown, but what is certain is that Lidl's prices are significantly cheaper (no car parking though!).

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